Two Fathers Lose Their Wives to Childbirth at Same Mass. Hospital

Two Massachusetts women died during childbirth at the same hospital within a month of each other, prompting an investigation into the hospital.

Colleen Celia, 32, died last week during a planned C-section at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, the Daily Mail reports. She was the mother of three other children, but this was her first C-section, as doctors had ruled her pregnancy “high-risk.” Doctors say a blockage in her bloodstream lead to a fatal amniotic fluid embolism.

Christie Fazio, 30, died in the same hospital on Dec. 14. She had given birth to her son and was holding him when doctors saw she was bleeding. They tried to save her but were unable to.

Fazio’s husband John Fazio told the Herald that his wife is “with the Lord.”

“I definitely see Christie’s face in him,” Fazio said of his son Jonathan. “I get strength from that smile.”

Maternity deaths are quite rare in the United States. 52 occurred in Massachusetts over the 2000-2010 decade, according to the Boston Globe, and only three last year.

The hospital is conducting an internal review, and has notified the Department of Public Health. It says that the review is standard protocol in such unusual cases, but maintains that the deaths were tragic and “unpreventable” accidents.

"Early indications are that both these cases were unpreventable and unanticipated," said Sarah Darcy, a hospital spokeswoman. "The biggest measure we are really focused on is supporting these families and making sure they have everything they need or want from us."

The maternity ward, Darcy said, has been "understandably devastated" by the deaths. She said the hospital’s focus now is on supporting the widowers and their families.